The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Government of India signed an agreement of JPY 300 billion (USD 2.24 billion) for the construction of Mumbai – Ahmedabad high-speed rail.
At the Japan-India summit held in May 2022, the governments of Japan and India welcomed the signing of a yen loan for the third phase of the high-speed rail project and confirmed that they would continue to make steady progress in the high-speed rail project.
The project covers the construction of a 508 km railway line connecting Mumbai, in Maharashtra state and Ahmedabad in Gujarat and includes viaducts totalling 450 km and 25 km of bridges, representing approximately 92% of the corridor, 25 km of tunnel sections, including a 7 km undersea tunnel through Thane Creek in Mumbai, and 12 stations.
USD 13.5 billion is the estimated value of the project which also includes a training centre in Vadodara which will serve as a backbone for future development of other high-speed corridors in India.
In the first year of operation, 35 trains per day per direction with a frequency of 20 mins in peak hours will run at 320 km/h providing 17,900 seats per day/direction. In the first decade of operation, the number of trains will increase to 51 per day/direction with 31,700 seats per day/direction.
According to a document published by JICA, the detailed design study would be completed at the beginning of 2024, while the detailed design study for electrical packages is planned for March 2025. The technical cooperation project for station area development along selected stations which includes capacity building for planning and managing station area in different locations would be completed in December 2026.
In March 2023, the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) appointed Japan High-Speed Rail Electric Engineering to manage the execution of the core Japanese Shinkansen technologies with works related to the safety and punctuality of the trains. The Japanese company will carry out a design and construction contract for the OCC (Operation Control Centre) and PMC contract for E1 Package of the high-speed rail corridor, ensuring the same level of safety and quality as of Shinkansen.
In December 2015, the governments of Japan and India signed a document under which it was agreed that the Mumbai – Ahmedabad high-speed rail project will be developed using Japanese technology such as the Shinkansen system and both parties will take necessary steps so that financial and technical assistance to be provided by relevant institutions from Japan.
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